Geist (25 page)

I looked back at Dags for a few minutes. I wished he was awake so I could tell him I loved him. 

"Go on, Zoë. Get back to the Throne. I'll take care of him." 

And she would. She loved him too. She would never hurt him. 

At least not...
intentionally
. (Hashtag! #BookInChest?) 

I turned and faced the door as Joe stepped through. I watched him—sort of waited for the screaming like Dags had done when Bonville had dragged his body through the Abysmal. 

When he didn't break down in agony, I stepped through as well. 

"You again?" one of the bricks piped up. "I thought you were uh...like...performing over at the theatre?" 

I glared at the brick, recognized it as the same brick that'd spoken to me that day so long ago, and immediately waved at the others to lead on. Joe gaped at the brick with the face in it. I grabbed his shirt and we had to sprint to keep up with TC. 

-40-

The Abysmal Plane

The sky was dark. And foreboding. And cloudy. 

And there was a full moon. Big ole thing. Huge. 

The place was dripping with atmosphere. Everything was like I remembered it. Odd shaped buildings, half leaning against each other. The black asphalt streets that moved and oozed. And everything was wet as if there'd been a storm. 

I looked up at the skyline a few times and was sure there were things up there watching us. Joe and I followed just behind TC. He turned down several streets. I noticed he was constantly looking from side to side, as if he thought we'd be attacked. He was as jumpy as I was. 

The Abysmal plane is in a state of flux. 

"Is that because of me?" I spoke aloud, only half realizing Geist spoke in my mind. 

Yes and no. With no real power set up in place there have been a few fights here and there. Power struggles. 

"Why don't the Ethereals try and help maintain order?" 

This time TC laughed. Had he been tuned in to Geist's voice in my head? "Zoë, you really are something sometimes." 

"What?" I sped up and half-walked, half-ran even with him. "The Ethereals did this. They want the borders closed. I figured they would also work to keep the peace." 

"You honestly think the Ethereals give a damn what happens internally once the borders are shut? As long as the Thrones are under their command, doing what they want," he glanced at me. "We can all pretty much kill ourselves off. The whole point of keeping it all closed is to stop the Abysmal's influence on the physical world. Once they're sure the borders won't open again—they will start hunting down anything Abysmic remaining in the Physical Plane." 

"You're so certain of this—" 

"He is right,"
Joe said as he matched our pace. I heard Geist in his voice this time.
"Ultimately it is not the goal of the Ethereal Plane to be cut off from the Physical. There are agents ready and willing to remain in the Physical Plane in order to carry out this destruction." 

"Who the hell is this Seraphim? I mean—is he a locum too? Or is he like Sophia was?" I thought about Samael and Sophia's betrayal. "Is—is the Seraphim now the original?" 

TC laughed. "It's a lot more complicated than that." 

"Try me—" I would have finished that sentence but as we rounded a corner we nearly rammed into the back end of a crowd of people. TC and Joe grabbed me and all three of us ducked back around behind the corner. I could hear a voice in the crowd. TC put a finger to his lips. 

"...just going to let them keep doing this? I say we have our own Bulwark between ourselves and the winner gets the Throne." 

"You want to play into their hands? Us wiping ourselves out is exactly how they intend on taking us down." 

"Can it, you damn boggart. Instead of fighting, we need to choose our own damn leader and stop letting them do it. The bitch ain't working for us, that's obvious. I got voices on the Physical says she's been spotted there even with the borders closed down!" 

"He's right! I heard that too—and if she cared about us she'd accept being the Phantasm and get things moving again. We need those gates open." 

I scooted to the corner's edge and looked around. 

It looked like any crowd you'd see in a movie. Ordinary citizens milling about in the middle of the street while a few people were standing on things to make them higher. Hotdog vendor, and a mailbox, and a newspaper dispenser. They were the most vocal. "They all look...normal." 

"Because you're not Wraith right now," TC said. "That's the basic horde out there. There's spectres, daemons, fetches, boggarts, spooks, chimeras, shades—and they're all standing in front of the theatre." 

"They are?" I looked back again and focused past them. 

Yeah, there was the theater all right—the only difference from before was the billing. Instead of Sophia's name up there in lights it was mine. But the lights weren't on. In fact, the whole theater was dark, as if it was shut down. Even the marquee signs on the outside of the building were empty and boarded up. "I did this?" 

"It is not your fault,"
Joe said. He hadn't moved to look at the back of the crowd but remained with his back against the wall. I glanced at the bricks of that building to make sure there weren't any faces listening in.
"Your father cast you in with no explanation. No direction. No instruction. This was all a plan to keep you submissive. To prevent you from joining in with the Throne and creating prosperity here." 

Yeah. I'd realized that. And because I'd called in my own little pity party things were starting to look bleaker than they had. "But—even if we get the locum into the Throne, will it be enough to integrate and open the gates up again? I mean it's just a piece of paper." 

"A locum can take any outward form. Rhonda simply chose what was easiest." 

"But that doesn't answer my question. Will it work? Will it get things running again. Geez...the way things look it's like the Abysmal economy's running even with the American economy, which is basically in the toilet. Looks like they need to get businesses going again." 

"They do," TC said. "We're not getting past that crowd though. Geist, you know a back way into the theater?" 

Geist/Joe looked back down the alley and nodded. "Yes. But—" 

TC and I glanced at one another. "But?" I prompted. 

Joe looked really...pale. Like he'd seen a ghost. Ha! And then he looked at me. "Your father is here." 

Uh-oh. 

-41-

Theater Of The Abysmal

"What do you mean Adiran is here?" TC said.

I held out my hand. "I'm confused—I thought the borders were closed. How come the Ethereals keep popping up in here?" 

"The borders within the Inner Planes. Not between the Outer Planes."

Oh.

Geist/Joe pointed in the general direction of the theater. "He's in there. He's with the Throne." 

"You think he knows what we're trying to do? Did they get a warning when you made that hole?" TC looked a little frazzled. He rubbed at his face. "I mean him being in there makes that crowd feasible. They know there's an Ethereal—" and then he stopped. His eyebrows arched over his shades. "There are a
lot
of Ethereals in there." 

"Yes. Now you see my panic," he turned and looked at me. Joe's eyes were black just like Rhonda's had been. Geist was in full control. "Zoë, you have to go back to your body. We have to know what it is he wants. Why he's brought so many Virtues here." 

"Can't you guys just go in there guns blazing, shove the locum in and haul me out? I mean, Rhonda built the thing to open the gates, right? I mean Geist...you're a...Geist. That makes you a big bad." 

"Those are Virtues in there," TC pointed to the theater with one of his guns. "I don't think you understand how fucked up things just got." 

"Worse even." Geist/Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper locum. It was starting to glow. It was faint, but in the light of the Abysmal Plane—we're talking torch. 

"We don't have a lot of time." TC reached out and grabbed my wrist—the one he'd touched all those months ago. The zap was immediate as my body convulsed. 

I felt like I was falling...and I heard someone screaming. 

Oh, that was me!

Abruptly I hit the bottom and sort of bounced. I was weightless which helped, but then came the familiar pain of being back in my physical body. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Oh it hurt like it always had—and I knew eventually it would pass. 

Damn First Borns. 

I really hated TC. 

Azrael. 

"Welcome back." 

That was my dad's voice. It wasn't his tone as much as what he said that set off my own internal alarms. After the initial ache passed I opened my eyes. I could see the universe below me. After a deep breath, I turned my head and looked out through the Throne's siding. 

Dad was there. In all his Ethereal glory looking the same as he had before. Not that he glowed or anything. But he was dressed in a nice gray suit with a white shirt. Antonio Banderas in Hugo Boss. Could give Jason a run for his money with his taste in clothing. 

Just behind him I could see others. All of them in variations of the same colors. Some in jeans, others in suit dresses for the girls. I figured there were maybe ten in all? 

I cleared my throat. "What do you want?" 

"I have a proposition." 

Zoë can you hear me?
It was Geist, with a bit of Joe in there. 

"Yes. My dad's here and maybe ten Virtues." 

I will watch and listen with you—if that is okay? 

"Yes. I'm freaking out!" 

I refocused on my dad. "Proposition? I thought you sentenced me in here—no other choices." 

"Daughter—I know you've been out of this body. I know you've been with the
Grimoire
. I know the Geist is there with you and I fought with it and yourself that night, and it was Geist that destroyed Raziel." 

Double uh-oh. Actually on the level of oh shit. So how did he figure that out? Did someone squeal? 

I decided it was better if I didn't admit to anything. You know...like when you're in a traffic accident? No officer—I was minding my own business. 

My dad smiled. I did not like that smile. "I don't know how you managed to do that. It could be a property of the
Grimoire
. Or of the Guardian himself. What I do know is that we can't continue to allow that to happen." He turned and snapped his fingers. 

Two of the others moved forward—both dressed in the gray and white—one in a suit, one in jeans. Between them they were half carrying, half dragging—

I shot forward, both hands pressed on the glass of the Throne. "Daniel!" 

"I see I have your attention." 

He looked...awful. They were basically holding him up between them. His eyes were closed and I realized he wasn't conscious. His face was badly bruised and blood vessels stuck out thick and purple just beneath his skin, a tell tale sign of the stress of the Abysmal Plane on his physical body. I recognized some of the symbols they'd carved on his neck. He was barefoot, dressed in his jeans and most of his shirt. It was open and I saw the markings on his chest. 

They'd started that damn spell on him!

"You asshole! How did you get him in here. The borders are closed!" 

"Did you think you were the only one with a back door?" Adiran said. 

"Fucking bastard."

"Now now," my dad said. "That's no way to speak to your father. You've been the disobedient one, Zoetrope. You weren't supposed to interact with the Physical plane anymore. And you certainly weren't supposed to join with the
Grimoire
. Or accept the Geist as an equal. That's not allowed. You've made it difficult for us to apprehend him." 

I curled my hands into fists. I swore if I ever got out of there I'd hunt my father down and beat the shit out of him. "He—he can't survive here. You know that. His First Born—" 

"Is what's keeping him alive. And I'm afraid while they're in here, that's about all she can do. All her energy is being spent preventing his body from breaking down and disintegrating here. So," he smiled at me. "My proposition." 

Your father is a very shrewd man. 

"He's an asshole." 

That too. 

"What?" I asked him. 

"You will remain where you are—and we will keep him out of the Abysmal Plane. I'm aware the First Born inside of him is Inanna, the favorite and the record keeper of Samael. She was most despised by Sophia because she kept Azrael alive and sheltered even while Sophia tried to mold and fashion him." 

"You mean brainwash him." 

"Yes. Inanna was the one that kept parts of Samael alive too. She's very resourceful. But like all the First Born that hide themselves away in physical bodies—she's weakest as a Revenant. And so we can control her, keep her, and take care of her so long as she's in this body. Or, we can obliterate her. Your choice." 

And by obliterating her, it meant Daniel died. 

"Zoetrope—" 

"Stop calling me that." 

"It's your name." 

"My name is Zoë." 

He shrugged. "The Seraphim wants the gates sealed. They will remain closed or we kill the Revenant. It's that simple." 

"Only if you leave Dags alone." 

My dad shook his head. "I'm afraid that matter is out of my hands. The Seraphim wants the
Grimoire
." 

"He can't have it."

"But he will." Adiran smiled. "Even now the
Grimoire
is open and vulnerable and our brethren are preparing for its acquisition." 

Fuuuuuuck. He already knew what we were planning.

Not exactly. 

I was amazed at Geist's optimism. "What about the Geist?" 

"Once I have the Guardian, I have the Geist and I've already made arrangements to have it purged. Do we have an agreement?" 

Och...even dad was talking in computer terms. "So you don't even consider Geist a living thing?"